Lake Hazar
Lake Hazar | |
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Lake Hazar | |
Location | Taurus Mountains |
Coordinates | 38°29′N 39°25′E |
Lake type | Rift Lake |
Primary outflows | Tigris |
Basin countries | Turkey |
Max. length | 22 km (14 mi) |
Max. width | 6 km (3.7 mi) |
Lake Hazar (Turkish: Hazar Gölü) is a rift lake in Turkey in the Taurus Mountains, 22 km southeast of Elazığ, notable as the source of the Tigris. It was formerly known as Lake Geoljuk (Gölcük).
Sunken city
Scientists found 4,000-year-old archaeological traces of a city below the lake. The city has been submerged in Lake Hazar, since 1830. Turkey wants to register its historic 'Sunken City' in eastern Anatolia as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Ebubakar Irmak, Mayor of Sivrice, said he dove into the lake in 2017 and saw the remains of churches, walls of a castle, pots, pottery and glazed plates of the citadel with traces of the Seljuk, Byzantine and Ottoman era. In 2019, amphora tombs were also found in the sunken city.